{{Short description|American aviation pioneer (1904–1965)}} {{Infobox person | name = Ellen Church | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|mf=yes|1904|9|22}} | birth_place = Cresco, Iowa, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|mf=yes|1965|8|22|1904|9|22}} | death_place = Terre Haute, Indiana, U.S. | known_for = First female flight attendant | education = Bachelor's degree of nursing education, University of Minnesota | employer = Boeing Air Transport (Predecessor of United Airlines) | occupation = Flight attendant<br/>Nurse | awards = *Air Medal *European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal *American Campaign Medal *World War II Victory Medal }} '''Ellen Church''' (September 22, 1904 &ndash; August 22, 1965) was the first female flight attendant.<ref name=PBS>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/kcet/chasingthesun/innovators/echurch.html|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110023029/https://www.pbs.org/kcet/chasingthesun/innovators/echurch.html|archive-date=November 10, 2012 |title=Chasing the Sun - Ellen Church |publisher=PBS }}</ref> A trained nurse and pilot, Church wanted to pilot commercial aircraft, but those jobs were not open to women. Still wanting to fly, Church successfully worked to convince Boeing Air Transport that using nurses as flight-stewardesses would increase safety and help convince passengers that flying was safe. Their first flight took off on May 15, 1930.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Haynes |first=Danielle |date=May 25, 2020 |title=First female flight attendant took maiden trip 90 years ago |language=en |work=UPI |url=https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2020/05/15/First-female-flight-attendant-took-maiden-trip-90-years-ago/3851589320900/ |access-date=2020-05-15}}</ref>

== Biography == Church was born in Cresco, Iowa. After graduating from Cresco High School, Church studied nursing and worked in a San Francisco hospital.<ref name=Iowa>{{cite web|url=http://www.iptv.org/iowapathways/mypath.cfm?ounid=ob_000186 |title=Ellen Church: The Flying Nurse |publisher=Iowa Public Television |accessdate=August 25, 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207132140/http://www.iptv.org/IowaPathways/myPath.cfm?ounid=ob_000186 |archivedate=February 7, 2012 }}</ref> She was a pilot and a registered nurse. Steve Stimpson, the manager of the San Francisco office of Boeing Air Transport (BAT), would not hire her as a pilot, but did pass along her suggestion to put nurses on board airplanes to calm the public's fear of flying.<ref name=Iowa/> In 1930, BAT hired Church as head stewardess, and she recruited seven others for a three-month trial period.<ref name=Iowa/>

The stewardesses, or "sky girls" as BAT called them,<ref name=PBS/><ref name=Wired>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/2008/05/may-15-1930-the-skies-get-a-little-bit-friendlier/ |title=May 15, 1930: The Skies Get a Little Bit Friendlier |first=Tony|last= Long |magazine=Wired |date=May 15, 2008 |accessdate=August 25, 2012}}</ref> had to be registered nurses, "single, younger than 25 years old; weigh less than 115 pounds ''[52 kg]''; and stand less than 5 feet, 4 inches tall ''[1.63 m]''".<ref name=PBS/> In addition to attending to the passengers, they were expected to, when necessary, help with hauling luggage, fueling and assisting pilots to push the aircraft into hangars.<ref name=Wired/> However, the salary was good: $125 a month.<ref name=PBS/><ref name=Iowa/>

Church became the first stewardess to fly (though not the first flight attendant, as German Heinrich Kubis had preceded her in 1912). On May 15, 1930, she embarked on a Boeing 80A for a 20-hour flight from Oakland/San Francisco to Chicago with 13 stops and 14 passengers.<ref name=AOM>{{cite web |url=http://avstop.com/news_april_2010/united_airlines_celebrates_80_years_of_the_flight_attendant_profession.htm |title=United Airlines Celebrates 80 Years Of The Flight Attendant Profession |first=Shane|last= Nolan |publisher=Aviation Online Magazine |date=April 30, 2010 |accessdate=August 25, 2012}}</ref> According to one source, the pilot was another aviation pioneer, Elrey Borge Jeppesen.<ref name=Baird>{{cite web|url=http://airportjournals.com/Display.cfm?varID=0702007 |title=New Book Marks Jeppesen's 100th Birthday |first=Cary|last= Baird |date=February 2007 |work=airportjournals.com|accessdate=August 25, 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120627082136/http://airportjournals.com/Display.cfm?varID=0702007 |archivedate=June 27, 2012 }}</ref>

The innovation was a resounding success - the other airlines followed BAT's example over the next few years - but an injury from an automobile accident ended her career after 18 months.

She obtained a bachelor's degree in nursing education from the University of Minnesota and resumed nursing.<ref name=PBS/><ref name=Cresco>{{cite web|url=http://www.crescochamber.com/cresco/ellenchurch.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130121055941/http://www.crescochamber.com/cresco/ellenchurch.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 21, 2013 |title=Ellen (Marshall) Church |publisher=Cresco website (crespochamber.com) |accessdate=August 25, 2012 }}</ref> In 1936, she became supervisor of pediatrics at Milwaukee County Hospital.<ref name=Cresco/> During World War II, Church served in the Army Nurse Corps as a captain and flight nurse and earned an Air Medal.<ref name=PBS/> She moved to Terre Haute, Indiana, where she became director of nursing and later an administrator at Union Hospital.<ref name=Cresco/>

In 1964, she married Leonard Briggs Marshall, president of the Terre Haute First National Bank.<ref name=AOM/><ref name=Cresco/> A horse riding accident ended her life in 1965.<ref name=AOM/><ref name=Cresco/>

== Legacy == Cresco's municipal airport was named Ellen Church Field (KCJJ) in her honor.<ref name=PBS/>

==See also== * Nelly Diener (1912–1934), the first female flight attendant in Europe

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.airliners.net/open.file?id=0174604&size=L&width=1024&height=652&sok=JURER%20%20%28pa%20%3D%20%2719757%2F67%27%29%20%20BEQRE%20OL%20cubgb_vq%20QRFP&photo_nr=13 Photo of a United Airlines Boeing 747 named "The Original Eight"]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Church, Ellen}} Category:1904 births Category:1965 deaths Category:People from Cresco, Iowa Category:American aviation pioneers Category:Flight attendants Category:Deaths by horse-riding accident in the United States Category:Accidental deaths in Indiana Category:Recipients of the Air Medal Category:Female United States Army nurses in World War II Category:United States Army nurses in World War II Category:American women aviators Category:University of Minnesota School of Nursing alumni Category:United States Army officers Category:Military personnel from Iowa Category:Nurses from Iowa Category:Women aviation pioneers Category:20th-century American nurses